New details emerge after Irish designer’s death on luxury New York yacht

Martha Nolan-O’Slattara’s mouth, chest and the back of her head were turning purple when paramedics found her aboard a boat docked at the ritzy Montauk Yacht Club in the Hamptons in August 2025.

The Co. Carlow woman had been living in New York for a number of years and was the founder of bikini line East x East.

Last week, her mother Elma Nolan launched a $ 50 million (€ 43.3 million) lawsuit against the yacht’s owner, Christopher Durnan of Garden City in New York, alleging wrongful death and that he "intentionally and wrongfully assaulted" her.

Now a paramedics’ report obtained by the New York Post reveals the 33-year-old’s body "had dried blood in oral, head and chest area’ but there was ‘no active bleeding observed or obvious sources of trauma".

Paramedics attempted to resuscitate her at the scene, where she was pronounced dead. Her cause of death is pending, the documents revealed. The report also stated that an unidentified "additional male" was present at the time of cardiac arrest and that he told emergency medical technicians (EMTs) he was in bed with the victim but couldn’t wake her up and called 911.

The owner of the boat, Mr Durnan, 60, is the only person who was previously confirmed to have been at the scene and the last one to see her alive. The investor met up with Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra on August 4 on board his yacht called Ripple to discuss her swimwear fashion company, according to a court filing that was brought forward last Tuesday as the deceased’s family launched civil legal proceedings against Mr Durnan.

Martha Nolan-O’Slattarra.

He was spotted sprinting naked down the dock around midnight on August 5, screaming for help for Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra.

His lawyer, Robert Holdman, has claimed that his client was naked because his clothing was "soaked" in the victim’s vomit. Paramedics did not note any vomit in their report.

"Durnan was found naked on the dock and claimed he had stripped because Martha had vomited on him, but no soiled clothes or signs of vomit were found at the scene or in the autopsy," according to the lawyer for the deceased’s family, Michael Bowe.

According to Mr Bowe, the EMT reports left Ms Nolan-O’Slattara’s family alarmed, especially because "law enforcement told the family the scene had been cleaned before responders arrived".

Extra.ie previously revealed law enforcement sources initially thought Ms Nolan-O’Slattara might have died of a drug overdose. However, sources close to the family have said that only trace amounts of cocaine were found in her system.

Her family presented a three-page preliminary filing last Tuesday as they prepare to file a $50million wrongful death lawsuit against Mr Durnan, who is believed to have invested more than $200,000 (€173,000) in her fashion boutique.

Martha Nolan-O’Slattarra.

The filing accuses him of causing her death through assault and negligence. Her family plans to sue him in the New York Supreme Court. Mr Holdman has maintained that his client was not responsible for her death.

Ms Nolan-O’Slattarra went limp between 10.30 pm and 11 pm on the night of August 4, and Mr Durnan feared she was having a heart attack, Mr Holdman said. Mr Durnan then tried to perform CPR on her to no avail, the attorney claimed.

"She was gone almost immediately," Mr Holdman told New York Magazine last year. "She was non-responsive.

Ms Nolan-O’Slattarra arrived in the US about a decade ago and said in a 2024 interview that she "loved" living on the Upper East Side.

Her social media pages showed her on private jets, sipping champagne, going to concerts, and cozying up to her sales exec boyfriend Nicholas DiRubio during a helicopter ride.

The fashionista had established several companies, including fashion accessories brand Duper and luxury swimwear label East x East.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.